Ballarat and Bendigo

Yesterday in Ballarat we went to the Botanicle gardens. There is a row of head statues of every Australian prime minster to see which was quite interesting. i took photos of all of the statues. We then let the kids burn off some energy at lake wendouree again followed by a scrumptious lunch at one of the cafes by the lake.

Today we drove the short trip to Bendigo. In another lovely caravan park "top tourist - gold nugget" we have an en suite site which is great considering the down pour to hit here. we got here at 11.30 and it was sprinkling so got the camper up but it started to pour down by the time we got to putting up the annexe. Lucky we got here when we did though as it poured down all day. Too wet to go to any of the main attractions i had on my list for today so went to Bendigo Pottery where they have a gallery of their works and the boys got a clay kit each and got to do some clay play. They loved it and it was an ideal activity to get away from the wet weather.

Hopefully tomorrow is better weather as lots to see here and it looks like a gorgeous place to be.

Into the past of the eureka days

Have had a great time here in Ballarat. Yesterday we took the kids over to Soverign hill which is virtually just across the rd from our caravan park. Kids really loved it there. Ethan and Sheldon went underground on a mine story tour with Graeme. Ash and I checked out the old shops while they did that. They got to see the red coats firing, do candle dipping, went on a coach horse ride and panned for gold. no one found any gold though lol. Was very interesting and the replica buildings are so good to look around. Will add some pics of soverign hill.

Afterwards we checked out the gold museum, got to see a giant gold nugget.

Today we went to the Eureka Centre and Ethan was glued to the documentary about the Eureka stockade - very interesting how a 1 hour battle (really a walk over) changed Australian democracy. We bought a few things from the gift shop including the blue and white Eureka flag that the miners fought under.

We took the kids to the Adventure Playland which they enjoyed. The playland was next to Lake Wendouree which has a yacht club and a rowing club and jetties but no water. Shows that the drought has been ongoing for years.

Relaxed by the resort style pool in the afternoon which was an ideal cool off after a hot day in the sun.

Wodonga / NED KELLY country

Well on Saturday we left Canberra after a day at the Royal Show. Kids had fun going on the rides and got a show bag each.
So saturday we arrived in Wondonga. The caravan park in wodonga was absoulte crap did not have a nice feel about it or anything, hard to explain but we didnt feel relaxed there. We had 3 nights booked but we left today for Ballarat as didnt want another night there. This was borderland big 4 that we had stayed at, i dont know how they managed to get a 4 star rating.

Anyway the first night there we went into albury and had dinner at a nice little italian cafe style restaurant, was lovely food. Yesterday we went for a drive out of wodonga to taste some wines at Schmitz strawberry farm. mmmm the wine and liquer was nice there. Got a couple of bottles. Them drove to my favourite wines destination "brown brothers" tasted the wine there and bought a bottle of wine. They have a larger selection in the cellar than you see in the liquor store. Stopped into Beechworth for lunch and thats a beautiful old heritage town. We ate at the best bakery ever. They are on the corner of there main street and have the largest selection of pasteries, rolls and cakes i have seen.

On the way back to wodonga we drove through Glenrowan which is Ned Kelly land. we went to a ned kelly mueseum which had a replica of his house and was very interesting.

Today after a long trip we arrived at Ballarat. We are in goldfields big 4 and this is by far the best caravan park yet. Its 5 star. Our site is right opposite the playground and right next to the camp kitchen, pool and bathrooms so perfect for us all. Its like a resort. I dont think the kids will want to leave but they are booked up over the wkend so only get 4 nights here. We are off to Soverign Hill tomorrow and the gold muesum which i think we will all love and Hogs breath cafe tonight.

some pics to update you all.